Latest news

Meet our real-life superheroes

Every day our NHS staff are incredible and perform the everyday and the impossible for both our adult and child patients.

Every minute we treat thousands of patients for a wide range of medical specialisms.

Every second, we treat hundreds of patients in Southampton Children’s Hospital. They are brave, they are strong, they are extraordinary, and they are fearless.

You don’t have to wear a cape to be a superhero - You are all fighting your own battles. Our thanks to our real-life superstars – the children’s at Southampton Children’s Hospital.

Meet our superstars!

I AM STRONG... Wayne was just three years old when his organs began to shut down.

This led to him being diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome; a disorder which affects the body’s nervous system and can lead to paralysis. After this diagnosis, Wayne was transferred to Southampton Children's Hospital, a leading centre for physiotherapy in children.

Dad, Wayne Senior, explains: “We were told if Wayne’s medication didn’t work that he would be paralysed from the neck down for the rest of his life, but thankfully the medication worked. Initially we were told he wouldn’t be able to walk for at least a year, but with the support of the team at Southampton Children's Hospital he has already started taking his first steps after only five months. He has even ridden a static bike during physiotherapy sessions, which I never thought I would see so soon!”

“Wayne is improving much faster than we could ever imagine and this is completely down to the expertise and commitment from the staff at Southampton Children's Hospital.”

Southampton Children's Hospital Charity is so important for families like Wayne’s. Recently, the charity has funded a mobile interactive projector which allows patients who are less mobile to enjoy the various projection scenarios. The projector was funded for the play specialist and youth service to use as a calming therapy as well as for general enjoyment on the wards in Southampton Children’s Hospital.

“To see Wayne using the projector was amazing. There was a game where you kick leaves away with your feet, and he actually wanted help to stand up to walk across the floor to move the leaves! Since his diagnosis, this is the first time we have seen him excited to really get moving around. For something so simple to have this kind of an impact on his rehabilitation has been incredible!”

I AM EXTRAORDINARY... Ten year old Charlotte was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease three years ago:

“I was initially diagnosed with Henoch-Schönlein Purpura (HSP) which is a rare virus that made my blood vessels inflamed. This affected my walking and I was getting really painful rashes. I also developed really bad stomach pains which doctors initially thought was linked to the HSP, but after the stomach pains continued, I had further tests done leading to an additional diagnosis of Crohn’s Disease, all at the age of just 7 years old!

Crohn’s has affected me in so many ways. Food is a big issue as I find it hard to digest things which are high in fibre but I’ve also missed a lot of school and spending time with my friends.

My dad has Crohn’s Disease too, so it has been helpful going through the treatments as I can talk to him about it, but it has still been really hard to deal with. The staff at Southampton Children’s Hospital have been incredible.”

Mum, Sarah, adds: “Despite my husband, Jason’s diagnosis of Crohn’s Disease, I was still so shocked when they told me Charlotte had it too. She was only 7 so we thought she was too young to be diagnosed with the same condition as Jason especially as he was diagnosed at 21 years old.

Charlotte’s journey to being able to manage her Crohn’s has also been difficult as we had to go through a few different treatments before we finally came to one that has worked for her. There was one point where Charlotte had just milkshakes for six weeks with nothing to eat at all; it was really hard as a mum to tell her that she wasn’t allowed to eat anything.

Recently, Charlotte had an operation conducted at Southampton Children's Hospital to narrow a section of her small intestine which we hope will allow her to be able to eat more types of food. Once Charlotte has recovered from her operation, as a family we’re going to do some fundraising to give back to Southampton Children's Hospital Charity. We’ve been on a couple of wards now and you can really notice the difference between the wards which have benefited from the charity’s support in terms of making it more comfortable for Charlotte as well as Jason and I.”